[tl_boy]

black 99-03 TL's leather gets HOT in Houston.

Originally Posted by kobechrome

It's sticky in hot weather but so is BMW real leather. (Had real leather in my old e46).

My 03 TL on the otherhand has soft real black leather and that always feels nice.

[kobechrome]

Originally Posted by tl_boy

black 99-03 TL's leather gets HOT in Houston.

It gets hot in VA also - but the leather itself is pretty soft.

[Darrel Revok]

Originally Posted by wantmye90

Socom, I live in Athens and I can tell you that nothing's like the real thing - leather. What other posters are neglecting to take into account is the HUMIDITY. A dry 90 degrees is a whole lot different than 90 degrees with HUMIDITY in the Southeast.

With leatherette, your sweat glands on the back of the legs, butt and small of the back spring to life and start pumping out that sweat if its humid and hot. With leather, there's still that hot feeling but since it breathes you at least don't get that wet, slimy feeling. Nasty!

What happens when you sweat on the leather? Does it get absorbed? If so, I don't think it can be that great for the leather. Preferated ventalated seats would be much better, but we don't get that yet anyway.

[stressdoc]

I think one of the keys to the success of leatherette in dealing with hot, humid conditions is the surface texture, which is sufficiently 'rough' to wick moisture away and allow for evaporation. There is a lot of air flow with 'ette. Unlike leather, which absorbs sweat, and retains any solids (salts), leatherette is easily cleaned. Regardless, unless you often dress so that you have bare skin against the seat, and choose to avoid A/C in summer -- which I sometimes do, preferring open windows until the car is warmed up and I am cooled down -- sweating is not much of an issue. I think this boils down to whether you like the cultural tradition of leather. Otherwise there is not a whole lot of difference, small plusses and minuses for each.

[ON325i]

Keeping me happy so far in hot and cold weather

-toronto weather coaster rider

[canucklion]

I hear ya, crazy humid hot

Originally Posted by coreslogic

Keeping me happy so far in hot and cold weather

-toronto weather coaster rider

[335ifanatic]

I had leatherette in my 330i and I loved it. I had the car for 3 years and the leatherette still looked brand new. I've had other cars with real leather and quite honestly the leather starts to look old if you drive your car alot but not with leatherette. I'm still trying to decide if i'm going get leatherette or leather in the 335i because the money I save from going to leatherette i'll be able to add another option. At the end it's a personal preference but I would go for leatherette.

[whippersnapper]

To each his own, but authenticity is important to me. It would bug the hell out of me knowing I had fake leather in my car

[Tweak48]

I left the sunroof open while shopping a couple of weeks ago, and got hit with a sudden downpour. When I returned, it was pretty wet inside.

I pulled a towel out of the trunk, wiped off the interior, and things were as good as new. I don't know how you could escape water marks on leather with that much rain.

One of the few but significant advantages of vinyl, uh, I mean leatherette seats.

That said, I think for fourty grand the 330 should come with at least 300 HP and leather seats.

[DLJJ3399]

I think it's more expensive to get some of the premium options without the premium package. I.E. Blue Tooth, BMW assist, sound system and power sport seats... which I love.

I was going to go with ette to save money, but it didn't add up, it was acutally more expensive with some of the premium options and I wanted the power sport seats.

Plus with ette, you only have two choices of interior colors and I wanted gray.

[Sedan_Clan]

The leatherette is durable, but it does get hot/cold just as leather does.

[Nikki]

The leatherette isn't that bad compared to the leather but once I got up to about $40k I couldn't justify buying a car for that much without leather so I added it on. When I sat in it, I could definitely tell it was much less plastic looking and it felt a lot less rubbery. The leatherette is pretty nice though compared to cars under $35k with what they call "leather". The leatherette 325i I test drove felt much better than my previous car, an Acura TSX that claimed its seats were "leather trimmed".

[magamaga]

I've driven E90s with leather and leatherette . Leather looks stitched and Leatherette doesn't. That's the only difference I could find. I don't see the necessity to get the leather seats.

[new2the3]

Originally Posted by zz25

I've got tan leatherette in my Landcruiser and live in a hot climate. No problems here. That's why I ordered black 'ette for my 330i.

In your sig it says your ordered the ZPP. That includes leather.

My 330i has leather & my sisters 325 has the ette and while it is still nice it feels cheap compared to my leather

[SV Concepts III]

Leatherette is great. I would not have it any other way really. The interior looks brand new, it smells and looks like leather, easy to clean and most of all very comfortable. You really can't go wrong with it. Leather is nice, granted, but it requires significantly more work to keep it clean and looking nice.

[whippersnapper]

I always wondered why leatherette was standard in the US. Can you even get it in other markets? To me a car like this should have leather fullstop.

[742]

I am curious. For all this talk about leather/plastic, am I the only one who would like a fabric option?

[whippersnapper]

Yes

[Scarabeo]

Whippersnapper - it is not "fake" leather...anyway, leather absorbs sweat, salt, and I would imagine other "odors"...I certainly would not want somebody else's aged leather (patina) seats on a used car...yak!!!

[Juve29]

When it gets really hot I sweat more with leatherette than I did when I had leather seats. Otherwise, I can't really tell the difference.

[Scarabeo]

I don't sweat at all with the air conditioning cranked up - and it has been over 96 degrees here this week...

[KevinC]

Originally Posted by Scarabeo

I certainly would not want somebody else's aged leather (patina) seats on a used car...yak!!!

Non-issue in the USA - we shower regularly over here.